We decided to head over to the cool neighborhood – The
French Concession – but I took us on a detour to a small museum that I was
dying to check out: The Chinese Propaganda Art Center.

It wasn’t easy to find; it’s located in the basement of a building in the
middle of a housing complex, but I’m glad I persisted. The museum
consists of several rooms with the walls lined with great propaganda posters
from the Maoist era. I’ve always loved this kind of art.

I can think of no better examples of the power of art to
strongly persuade than these posters. I was really fascinated by it all.

Check out this one: The inscription says something about promoting
the friendship between Russia and China. This is the gayest thing I think
I saw on my entire trip.

I went a little crazy
in the gift shop, purchasing four posters and two mugs.

We continued our stroll, passing this lovely, discreetly
named building: .

Imagine walking out of this building
and bumping into a group of your friends. Can you say, “die of
embarrassment”?

We finally hit the heart of the neighborhood we
sought: the French Concession. This is a very cool neighborhood of
tree-lined streets and an intriguing mix of architectural styles dating from
the colonial era.

The neighborhood is filled with
quaint boutiques and galleries, and lots of cool restaurants and bars.

It reminded me a little of Soho in NYC, but more
neighborhoody.

As we strolled the streets, we encountered some interesting
monuments, like this statue of Pushkin, one of the traces of Russian influence
still found in the neighborhood.

We found the U.S. Consulate, which stood out because of the
military guards out in front. I tried to take a photo, but the guard angrily
tried to wave me off. I went down the street and took the photo
anyway.

I then came upon a statue of Nie Er, the guy who
composed the Chinese national anthem.

By this point in the day we were getting tired and hungry,
so back to the hotel to relax a bit before heading out to dinner. We really
loved the French Concession, so we decided to head back to see what it’s like
at night. Having enjoyed the Yunnanese cuisine at Lost Heaven the
night before, we tried another Yunnanese place, called Southern Barbarian.

We got the fried goat cheese, shredded potato pancake
and pork with sauerkraut. Not your typical Cantonese or Beijing cuisine.
The place was fun, and very popular with expats.

The French
Concession, in fact, is very popular with expats; we saw young parents out for
a stroll with their kids, foreign exchange students, American
businessmen. If I were ever to move to Shanghai, this is the neighborhood
I’d want to live in, with all the shopping and restaurants and trees.
Wherever you are in the French Concession, you’re never too far from a park.

After dinner, it was back to the hotel for some much-needed
rest. Sorry, cat fans. No cats today. I know… I’m
disappointed, too. Perhaps tomorrow we’ll see some?

Dr. Arnold Plotnick (MS, DVM, ACVIM) blogs about professional and personal life experiences as an expert in the field of feline veterinary medicine.

Dr. Arnold Plotnick is a board-certified veterinary internist, feline expert, and the founder of Manhattan Cat Specialists. In addition to his medical work, he is an award-winning veterinary medicine writer.